BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The UAB baseball team will travel to Orlando, Fla. this weekend for three games in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Blazers will take on Valparaiso, No. 24 Indiana and Dartmouth.

Series Information and Probable Starters

Location: Orlando, Fla.

Facilities: Lake Myrtle Park Main Field and Chain of Lakes Park Stadium

UAB powered past Troy in its matchup on Tuesday night, 9-3. The Blazers connected on home runs by Ryan Prinzing and Ivan De Jesus that broke open the game. It was the first time since April 27, 2012 that the Blazers had hit two home runs in a game.

Prinzing finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a single, double, home run, three RBI and three runs scored. Conference USA hitter of the week, John Frost set a new career high in hits (4) and recorded his eighth multiple hit game of the season in the win.

Against Valparaiso on Friday, the Blazers will send RHP Tanner Bryant to the mound. Bryant comes in with a 1-1 record on the season and a 3.86 ERA. He pitched well in his last outing, surrendering just one run on five hits, one walk and two strikeouts in six innings against Arkansas State, a game that the Blazers lost, 2-1, in 11 innings.

UAB’s starters on Saturday and Sunday have yet to be announced.

Valparaiso Scouting Report

Valparaiso comes in with a record of 6-10 but has won two of its last three games. The Crusaders are nearing the end of a 19-game road trip to start the season. At the end of the trip, Valpo will have played 13 games in the state of Florida, having gone 5-5 so far.

The Crusaders are coming off a 7-1 win against Navy (6-9) in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. In game two of the doubleheader, the Crusaders defeated Yale (1-4), 9-2. On Thursday, Valparaiso will go against Bucknell before taking on the Blazers on Friday morning.

Tanner Vavra leads Valpo with a .321 batting average and 10 runs scored. As a team, the Crusaders are hitting .242 with three home runs. They are quick on the bases with 14 steals in 17 attempts.

Cole Webb will get the nod for Valpo on the mound. Webb has gone 2-2 in his four starts this season with a 1.86 ERA. In 29 innings pitched he has allowed six walks while striking out seven and has allowed only three extra-base hits. In Webb’s last outing against South Florida on Saturday, he allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits and four walks in a 5-2 Valparaiso win.

Indiana Scouting Report

Indiana comes in ranked No. 24 in the Baseball America Top-25 poll with a record on 10-3. The Hoosiers are coming off a series win at Florida and have won its first two games at the RussMatt against Army, 4-2, and Fairfield, 8-0.

Indiana will take on Navy and Bucknell before taking on the Blazers on Saturday.

The Hoosiers will be tough both on offense and defense. Kyle Schwarber leads Indiana in batting average (.444), runs scored (15), home runs (3), and RBI (13). Schwarber and Sam Travis each are hitting over .400 while three other Hoosier batters are batting above .300.

LHP Kyle Hart is expected to get the start against the Blazers. Hart, a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio, has a 2-0 record and a 2.01 ERA in four starts this season. In 22.1 innings pitched, Hart has surrendered five earned runs, eight walks, and one extra-base hit. He has hit a team high four batters.

Dartmouth Scouting Report

Dartmouth is off to a 3-0 start, having won all three of its games at the Dairy Queen Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. The Big Green defeated Minnesota, Northern Illinois and Utah and outscored its opponents in those games by a combined total of 16-5.

Dartmouth has four players that are hitting over .400, led by Nick Lombardi who is batting .500 over his first three games with two doubles, a home run and five RBI. As a team, Dartmouth is hitting .315 and has yet to commit an error.

Michael Johnson (1-0) or Mitch Horacek (1-0) will likely get the start for the Big Green against UAB. Johnson, in his only start of the season, pitched three innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out four. Horacek has appeared in one game and tossed four shutout innings in a 1-0 win for the Big Green over Northern Illinois.

Dartmouth begins its stay in Orlando with a matchup against Army on Saturday night. The Big Green then face off against LIU Brooklyn Sunday morning before taking on the Blazers Sunday afternoon.

Hitter of the Week

Frost was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week on Monday after leading UAB with a .474 batting average in five games over the week. Frost laced nine hits in 19 at bats, scored five runs and knocked in five while posting a .522 on-base percentage and .632 slugging percentage. The Decatur, Ala., native recorded multiple hits in three of the five games and knocked in at least one run in four of five contests. Frost leads the team with four three-hit games this season and seven multiple hit games.

Frost continued his hot streak at the plate Tuesday night, going 4-for-5 in the Blazers’ 9-3 win at Troy. He set a new career high in hits with four while recording three RBI. Frost has tallied multiple hits and at least one RBI in each of his last three games.

Prinzing Getting On Base

Prinzing has reached base in 15 of UAB’s 17 games this season, including a season-high 11 games streak that ended last Saturday against Arkansas State. He leads the Blazers in runs scored (10), doubles (4), on-base percentage (.477) and hit by pitches (6). He is tied for the team lead with one home run and is second on the team in batting average (.358).

Against Troy, Prinzing tied a career high in hits (3) and smashed his previous career high in total bases with seven. Prinzing hit his first career home run in the second inning and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI.

Blazers Get Beamed

UAB has reached base via the hit by pitch 20 times this season, which leads Conference USA. Prinzing leads C-USA, having been hit six times, including once on Tuesday night at Troy. Tyler Mims is right behind him having been hit five times. In total, a pitch has hit 10 different Blazers this season.

Playing The Close Ones

UAB is 6-2 in games decided by two runs or fewer this year, going 3-2 in 1-run games and 3-0 in 2-run contests. Last week, UAB went 2-1 in games decided by two runs or fewer. Last season, the Blazers posted an impressive 13-5 record in games decided by a single run.